Cover songs better than the originals

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Many hit songs get associated with an artist, sometimes so much so that it becomes unthinkable that someone else would try to redo it.

Of course, that never stopped anybody. Bill Shatner’s “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”, anybody? :rolleyes:

Some cover attempts range from pale imitation to serviceable homage to weird parody to what were you smoking? But sometimes, the student will eclipse the teacher, and the cover tune will be better than the original.

And that’s what this thread will address. Put your songs here, where you think the cover version is better than the original. Link to a tune or a video if you can. Give us an idea of why you think the cover is better.

By virtue of being the OP, I shall begin.

ahem ahem

Song: UNCHAINED MELODY
Original performer: Todd Duncan (1955)
Cover: The Righteous Brothers (1965)

Originally from the motion picture Unchained. It was performed in the movie soundtrack by Todd Duncan. He did an excellent and understated job. Also in 1955, It was performed, quite well, by such artists as Les Baxter, Roy Hamilton, and All Hibbler. Made quite a romantic song.

Then, in 1965, Phil Spector produced a version sung actually as a solo by Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers. I believe this version had a level of soul and of passion that the previous versions lacked. The song went from being a pleasant little romantic ditty to an impassioned anthem of longing. From Bobby’s opening soft, almost tentative vocals, through to the soaring final verse – I believe it’s Hatfield who truly “unchained” the song.
 
I don’t know how to link. :o

I hate saying this but I think The Barenaked Ladies cover of “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” is better than Bruce Cockburn’s original.
 
grasscutter said:
I don’t know how to link. :o

I hate saying this but I think The Barenaked Ladies cover of “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” is better than Bruce Cockburn’s original.
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Dwight Yoakam’s cover of I Want You To Want Me better than the original of Cheap Trick:o

Faith Hill cover of Just A Little Piece of My Heart better than Janice Joplin original
 
A few covers of Bob Dylan’s songs were (arguably) better than the original…
  • Blowin’ in the Wind, covered by Peter Paul and Mary
  • Mr Tambourine Man, covered by The Byrds
  • The Mighty Quinn, covered by the Hollies
And Dylan has one of the most famous (and greatest) covers of all,…

All Along the Watchtower, covered by Jimi Hendrix.

I can think of quite a few covers of other artists which came close, but, in the end, didn’t quite eclipse the originals.

Fun topic!
 
Ophelia23 said:
I know this isn’t quite what you were looking for, but I thought it may still be a fun contribution… it’s funny you ask this question because I was just reading an article on MentalFloss about 20 songs we generally didn’t know were covers.

mentalfloss.com/article/53336/20-songs-you-might-not-know-were-covers

It’s a fun read, and the side-by-sides are great to listen to! 👍
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😃 Thankyou!

There are some contenders and some "honourable mention"s there (for the cover being better than the original).

At the top of my list of honourable mentions is Blondie’s Tide is High. It is a truly great cover, and Blondie make it their own, but The Paragons original is just so good I’ll have to stick with it.
 
Edmundus1581 said:
A few covers of Bob Dylan’s songs were (arguably) better than the original…
  • Blowin’ in the Wind, covered by Peter Paul and Mary
  • Mr Tambourine Man, covered by The Byrds
  • The Mighty Quinn, covered by the Hollies
And Dylan has one of the most famous (and greatest) covers of all,…

All Along the Watchtower, covered by Jimi Hendrix.

I can think of quite a few covers of other artists which came close, but, in the end, didn’t quite eclipse the originals.

Fun topic!
Click to expand...
I have to go with a cover of a cover… Garth Brooks’ cover of Billy Joel’s cover of Bob Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My Love” is absolutely the best… Garth claims that when he was asked to do the song for the movie “Hope Floats”, he wasn’t given the lyrics and when he tried to find liner notes on a Bob Dylan album, there weren’t any and he couldn’t understand what Dylan was saying. He had to find Billy Joel’s cover in order to find the lyrics!
 
Ophelia23 said:
I know this isn’t quite what you were looking for, but I thought it may still be a fun contribution… it’s funny you ask this question because I was just reading an article on MentalFloss about 20 songs we generally didn’t know were covers.

mentalfloss.com/article/53336/20-songs-you-might-not-know-were-covers

It’s a fun read, and the side-by-sides are great to listen to! 👍
Click to expand...
I remember when Tiffany’s version of “I Think We’re Alone Now” came out. Oh how I hated it!!

One guy my age, father of a couple of young kids was horrified by the lyrics. We had to break it to him gently that he’d listened to those lyrics when he was going to school, he’d just never paid attention to them because of the waayyy better music that accompanied them.
 
No question:
“Hallelujah” (orig. Leonard Cohen) - Tim Buckley
“Hurt” (orig. Nine Inch Nails) - Johnny Cash
“Wildwood Flower” (orig. Carter Family) - Loretta Lynn
“Speeding Motorcycle” (orig. Daniel Johnston) - Yo La Tengo
“There She Goes” (orig. The La’s) - Sixpence None The Richer
“If She Knew What She Wants” (orig. Jules Shear) - The Bangles
“Hey Ho” (orig. The Lumineers) - Lennon & Maisy Stella (TV’s Nashville)

Edited to add: Oh, and speaking of Joan Jett - “The Time Has Come Today.” I had no idea that wasn’t her song until someone told me, “Oh, that’s the Chamber Brothers.”
 
A twist on the original question.

Have you ever heard a song for, as far as you’re concerned, the first time and thought “There’s something off about this song. It would sound so much better if they’d done this, this and this.”?

I’ve experienced this twice now. The first time was when I heard “The Ballad of Lucy Jordan” as done by the Barra McNeils. I said to hubby, 'why don’t they all come in on the chorus, it would sound so much better. Imagine my surprise to hear Dr. Hook’s version some years later. “YES, THAT’s what was missing!” Perhaps I’d heard the original years before but I have no memory of it before I heard the Barras sing it on the waterfront in Halifax.

Then about 10 years ago I heard a two line refrain in a show called “Hope Island” and was driven to find the song. It took me a couple of years but one day I went into google groups and found that someone had used those lyrics as his signature and included the composer’s name and ID’s the song - Mirabeau Bridge by Sam Larkin. I listened to two versions before I got a CD from Larkin himself and both covers left me feeling that something was off, one version more than the other. We’re talking the way they sang the song, not the quality of the voices.

Larkin’s CD version was the way I’d wanted the other two versions to be.
 
Phemie said:
For me the definitive version is Manfred Mann’s.
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Good, but the banjo in the Hollies version makes it for me. 🙂

But both are better than Dylan’s, which is almost painful to listen to.
 
bluerose said:
I have to go with a cover of a cover… Garth Brooks’ cover of Billy Joel’s cover of Bob Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My Love” is absolutely the best… Garth claims that when he was asked to do the song for the movie “Hope Floats”, he wasn’t given the lyrics and when he tried to find liner notes on a Bob Dylan album, there weren’t any and he couldn’t understand what Dylan was saying. He had to find Billy Joel’s cover in order to find the lyrics!
Click to expand...
I saw him mention that on his live show a few months ago. Speaking of Brooks/Joel, I don’t know if it’s better but it’s definitely as good- Garth’s cover of “Shameless”. Love both versions but Garth does a great version!
 
randomuser said:
No question:
“Hallelujah” (orig. Leonard Cohen) - Tim Buckley
"Hurt" (orig. Nine Inch Nails) - Johnny Cash
“Wildwood Flower” (orig. Carter Family) - Loretta Lynn
“Speeding Motorcycle” (orig. Daniel Johnston) - Yo La Tengo
"There She Goes" (orig. The La’s) - Sixpence None The Richer
“If She Knew What She Wants” (orig. Jules Shear) - The Bangles
“Hey Ho” (orig. The Lumineers) - Lennon & Maisy Stella (TV’s Nashville)

Edited to add: Oh, and speaking of Joan Jett - “The Time Has Come Today.” I had no idea that wasn’t her song until someone told me, “Oh, that’s the Chamber Brothers.”
Click to expand...
I was stumped until your post. Johnny Cash made “Hurt” his own. I like when genres and artists crossover because I like the tension that comes from the differences. The two artists are at different places in their lives and the “hurt” comes from different places. But both artists are on the dark side.
 
Phemie said:
A twist on the original question.

Have you ever heard a song for, as far as you’re concerned, the first time and thought “There’s something off about this song. It would sound so much better if they’d done this, this and this.”?
Click to expand...
Yes. The Rolling Stones’ “As Tears Go By.” It’s way too slow, like molasses.
 
randomuser said:
No question:
“Hallelujah” (orig. Leonard Cohen) - Tim Buckley
Click to expand...
Jeff Buckley?

It’s funny, everybody has a version they prefer to Cohen’s, whether it’s Buckley’s, k.d.lang’s, Rufus Wainright’s. Yet for me, Cohen brings something to Hallelujah! that nobody else does and, yes, it’s probably the quality of his voice. I could listen to Cohen for hours!
 
Phemie said:
For me the definitive version is Manfred Mann’s.
Click to expand...
Speaking of Manfred Mann (and his Earth Band), their version of *Blinded By the Light *totally eclipsed Bruce Springsteen’s original.
 
John_Lazarus said:
Many hit songs get associated with an artist, sometimes so much so that it becomes unthinkable that someone else would try to redo it.

Of course, that never stopped anybody. Bill Shatner’s “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”, anybody? :rolleyes:

Some cover attempts range from pale imitation to serviceable homage to weird parody to what were you smoking? But sometimes, the student will eclipse the teacher, and the cover tune will be better than the original.

And that’s what this thread will address. Put your songs here, where you think the cover version is better than the original. Link to a tune or a video if you can. Give us an idea of why you think the cover is better.

By virtue of being the OP, I shall begin.

ahem ahem

Song: UNCHAINED MELODY
Original performer: Todd Duncan (1955)
Cover: The Righteous Brothers (1965)

Originally from the motion picture Unchained. It was performed in the movie soundtrack by Todd Duncan. He did an excellent and understated job. Also in 1955, It was performed, quite well, by such artists as Les Baxter, Roy Hamilton, and All Hibbler. Made quite a romantic song.

Then, in 1965, Phil Spector produced a version sung actually as a solo by Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers. I believe this version had a level of soul and of passion that the previous versions lacked. The song went from being a pleasant little romantic ditty to an impassioned anthem of longing. From Bobby’s opening soft, almost tentative vocals, through to the soaring final verse – I believe it’s Hatfield who truly “unchained” the song.
Click to expand...
Elton John>… Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
 
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